A Never Ceasing Smile to Hide the Pain Within
by Tigress of the Moon
Summary: Even Tasuki has now found someone, so now Chichiri is left alone, until a young girl appears, altering his life forever. A non-yaoi/non-lemon Chichiri fanfic!!!
1. Chapter 1: The Wandering Monk

A Never Ceasing Smile to Hide the Pain Within  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own FY, the manga or the anime...Will I ever? Probably not.  
  
A/N: Because I have this thing for non-yaoi/non-lemon fanfics, and I've noticed that people are always looking for Chichiri ones of these as well, I figured....Hell, I might as well wright one, considering not many others are making a move to do so!...Since I just finished (I hope) my Tasuki one, I can start on this one! Yay!! So for all of you out there who are sick of Chichiri being made gay (when he's as, "straight as a board"), this fanfic is for you!!  
  
Chapter 1: The Wandering Monk  
  
Chichiri sat by the pool of crystalline water and wondered if he'd ever be as happy as he was in his youth. Happy, carefree, living and loving life. Those where the days! Chichiri thought as he fell from his sitting position onto his back and looked into the clear blue sky above. Only mere wisps of clouds graced the zenith while the rest of the sky, including the horizon, spoke only of more clear weather and warm sunshine.  
  
He pulled off his smiling mask and laid it on the grass beside him. He sat up to look at his reflection in the water, being careful not to knock over his fishing pole. So different.. he thought, as he fingered the scar over his right eye. He picked up the mask and put it over his face. "A never- ending smile to hide the pain within..." He laughed to himself as he ripped off the concealing object and threw it behind him. "It doesn't matter what others see...It's how I see myself, and whether I wear the mask or not, in my mind, I always look the same."  
  
He watched as the glimmers of sunshine played on the water's surface, dancing on the little ripples made by the faint, spring breeze. The light scent of blooming flowers filled his nostrils, soothing him, placing him in a more relaxed state. He loved coming to this little pond, it was where he would go to get away from it all, to think, and to most of all, be himself. Water had taken away his life, his best friend, but it was also comforting. The water had given him back his life as much as it had taken it away. It had brought him ti where he was now.  
  
His fiancé, his best friend...They would've been gone anyway, only in a different sense. It had "rinsed his slate clean," so to speak. So now he had a new life, once again, his old life, the scar he now bore as a constant reminder of, had long passed away. The Suzaku no Miko was in her world now, and Tasuki was off being a bandit on Mt. Leikaku. Since everyone else was dead, he was left alone, in solitude, on Dachi-san mountain.  
  
Maybe not complete solitude. After all, there still was Taiitsu-kun and Nyan Nyan, but other than that, thee was no one. It didn't help that since the mountain's true beauty was normally hidden from its beholder, so not many stopped, or could even notice him if they wanted to.  
  
Chichiri flopped back down into the sweetly scented grass again and let the gentle breeze play with the partial mohawk of his hair. Chichiri sighed again and took a deep breath. The scents of this world were so fragrant, so soothing, he wanted to stay here forever. A butterfly fluttered over and landed on his nose. He looked at it cross eyed for a moment and smiled, before it took off and landed on a nearby flower.  
  
Chichiri got up and leaned back onto his elbows, watching it drink the nectar and then slowly fly off, whisked away on the small breaths of wind.  
  
So, Chichiri thought to himself. Even Tasuki found someone...Who would've thought that the lone bandit who hated girls would end up in love with one. That deeply too. He twirled a piece of grass with his fingers. So...I'm left here, with no one...Sure, I guess it was all right before...I mean, after her death I became a wandering monk. I met Nyan Nyan and Taiitsukun...They helped me to find himself...They kept me occupied, and then the Suzaku no Miko came to this world, and I had her well-being filling my thoughts...I needed to protect her, so she was always on my mind, and I was always following her around...I never had any time to think, any time to be myself...Now I have all the time in the world.  
  
Chichiri put his hands behind his head and fell into the spring grass. He closed his eyes and breathed in the soft aroma of the fresh, green grass. He let his breath out in the sigh. So what do I do now?  
  
He let his muscles relax until the point where he felt he had melted into the small knoll he laid on. A darkness passed over him. What the-How could a cloud b blocking the sun when there's almost none in the sky? To see what was blocking the warm sunlight, he opened his eyes...And saw a face six inches away from his own, looking down at him with keen interest.  
  
Chichiri's eyes widened in surprise and he had to stop himself from yelping from the sudden shock.  
  
"What cha' doin'?" she said as she cocked her head to one side, peering at him, curiosity flooding her features. Chichiri's eyes flitted to her hand.  
  
She has my mask! I forgot I took it off!  
  
The girl noticed how the focus of Chichiri's eye had shifted. "Oh, is this iyour/i face? I found it about 10 feet away, over there," she pointed behind her.  
  
"Y-yes it is. Can I please have it back no da?" Chichiri tried grasping for the mask that dangled out of the girls right hand.  
  
"Sure!" said the young girl as she dropped the mask into his out-stretched hand.  
  
"Thanks no da," said Chichiri as he put the mask up to his face and it seemed to meld and become one with it.  
  
The girl stood up from her stooped over position and took a step back. "Whoa...I thought only girls could 'put on their face'...You know, make up...Not iliterally/i...Okay, that was creepy..."  
  
"Gomen nasai no da...My scar normally scares people, so I wear this mask no da."  
  
"Really? I think you look better without the mask...That thing scars me...It makes you look like some kind of deformed cat or fox guy...It's creepy..."  
  
Chichiri started with surprise. She's not scared?...Huh, then I guess- Chichiri pulled the mask off and looked at her, a solemn look on his true face. "You honestly think I look better this way?"  
  
"Yeah, much better! You look so kawaii without it!"  
  
"All right, then I'll keep it off for now no da." Chichiri tucked the mask away and looked at the girl again, except closer than before. Not literally though, considering he had a close look when she was six inches above his face. She had deep blue eyes, like the lake that spread out before him. Her hair was a golden color with streaks of pale orange. she was wearing a bright red shirt and tattered dark blue pants. She smiled and flung some of her mid-back length hair behind her shoulder.  
  
"Well, anyway...Hi, my name's Lisuku."  
  
So much for formal introductions. "I'm Houjun, but most people call me Chichiri."  
  
"K. Hello."  
  
And then, a thought stuck him. He had been so surprised before, it hadn't even passed through his mind, but now. Wait a second..How did she-? "Lisuku?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"How did you get here? I mean...you shouldn't be able to see this place at all, or me."  
  
Lisuku shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know...I spaced out, and ehn I took in my surroundings, I was here. I didn't know where I was, so I saw you and I'd figured I'd ask if you knew where we are...So, do you?"  
  
"Yeah, no da. I live here no da. This is Dachi-san Mountain."  
  
"Huh. Where's that?"  
  
"In the middle of nowhere basically no da."  
  
"What? How did I-?"  
  
Chichiri shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me, no da." He turned away from her to check on his fishing pole. He still hadn't had a bite yet, but it didn't matter, it wasn't like he was planning to eat one if he caught it anyway. It was just a hobby, something to eat up his enormous amount of free time.  
  
And now, it was Lisuku's turn to be surprised. "I-in the middle of n-no where?" She walked back towards him and plopped down in the grass beside him. Her eyes almost seemed to glaze over as she muttered to herself. "B- but how? Wh-what happened?" She shook her head to snap out of the trance she had put herself in and turned to face Chichiri. "How do I get back?" she asked him, a ting of fear creeping around the edge of her voice.  
  
"I don't know, where do you live no da?"  
  
Lisuku looked out over the water, a look of concentration and confusion on her face. The same look was still there when she looked at him again. "I don't know...I-I don't remember."  
  
* * *  
  
A/N: Well, what do you think? Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, this fanfic takes place right after Chapter 6 of Blazing Divine Flame...I got bored...I figured since I got so many responses for the non-yaoi/non- lemon Tasuki fic, then you peoples would probably want a Chichiri one along the same lines! If I get, say, 10 or so reviews, then I'll keep writing it. I mean, you do want to know what happens next, right? If you don't, oh well, I tried. Good luck with your searches! Ja ne! 


	2. Chapter 2: Without a Past, Looking Towar...

A Never Ceasing Smile to Hide the Pain Within  
  
Disclamer: Do I own FY, you ask? No! Of course not! Would this be written down and not on TV if I owned FY! Sometimes I like to pretend...But I guess writting fanfics is just as good (yeah, right)...I own Lisuku, though...  
  
A/N: Hmm...I have no idea where this story is going, but I hopefully will soon. (Hopefully, there's a good word). This fanfic takes place after FY and after Blazing Divine Flame (but you don't have to go and read it, although I would appreciate it! : ) ). I've never written a Chichiri fanfic before...So I hope all of you like reading it as much as I liked writing it!! Oh, and Gomen nasai for going back and forth between the manga and the anime. Dachi-san is what they call the mountain in the manga. Since I've only seen about 18 episodes from the anime, I'm not sure what it's called in it. I hope that doesn't effect the story too much!!  
  
Chapter 2: Without a Past, Looking Towards the Future  
  
"Huh?" startled, Chichiri tore his wandering gaze away from the lake and back into Lisuku's eyes. "What do you mean no da?"  
  
"I don't remember," her voice raised a couple octives in panic as her eyes frantically searched for a landmark she might have missed that would spark her memory as she tore through her thoughts desperately searching for some key to her past, but there was nothing there. Her consciousness touched all corners of her memory to come up with nothing but blackness and wisps of memories that faded as soon as they were grasped. "Wha-What happened? How- But...?" She shook her head and then gazed into Chichiri's face once again, some calm restored in her voice. "I don't know...There-There's nothing there...It's like it's been wiped clean...I know my name...I know what I'm like...My personality is the same, but..."  
  
"But, what no da?"  
  
"But there's no memories to back it up...I don't know how I came here, or, really who I am..." Lisuku shuddered and pulled her knees to her chest, hugging them there with her arms. She rested her head on her knees as tear drops gathered in her eyes and slowly slipped down her cheeks.  
  
She doesn't know who she is? Or how she got here? Her past is...gone? Chichiri looked at her for a moment, stunned. How? How did this-? A thought struck him. I have to take her to Taiitsu-kun! She's the Creator...She'll HAVE to know what's going on...I hope.  
  
Chichiri moved towards Lisuku and started rubbing her back, trying to calm her down and release her from some of her fears. Maybe he could comfort her by showing her that she wasn't alone. She fell towards him until she was leaning against his side. His presence, his warmth, brought comfort. She didn't know why, but just his presence was soothing.  
  
At least I'm not lost and alone, she thought to herself. He seems to care...Maybe he'll help me. Lisuku looked up into Chichiri's deep chestnut eye and then pushed her self away from him and into a sitting poistion. "Can you help me?" her plea for help came out no more than a breath above a whisper. She was scared. Her bright and bubbly personality was buried deep within her now. On the surface all that could be seen was shock.  
  
Chichiri watched as the overflow of tears gently stremaed from her eyes, caressing her cheeks before they slid off her chin and moistened her shirt, leaving little patches of crimson on the bright red. Chichiri could feel his own eye grow glassy as tears began to build. Just looking at her tore at his heart. It hurt him anytime he saw someone else in pain, and to make it worse, it always reminded him of his own.  
  
"Of course I will no da. I'll take you to my sensei no da. She'll know what to do no da."  
  
Her deep blue eyes immediately brightened at the possibility of this new hope. "Really? You think she can help."  
  
Chichiri pushed off the gound with his hands and slid his feet under himself. He stood and looked down at her lovingly and held out his hand. "If she can't help you, than I don't know who can no da."  
  
Lisuku gratefully accepted his hand and brushed off the back of her pants once Chichiri had pulled her to her feet.  
  
"Follow me no da," Chichiri said as he took the small, worn bath of dirt from his knoll beside the pond up to the main quarters of Dachi-san Mountain. Lisuku, after spacing out for a moment, ran to catch up to him, and once she was standing beside him, grabbed his arm. A slight blush spread across his cheeks as he looked down at her and smiled. She's scared..That's all...She doesn't want to loose anyhing else now that she's already lost herself...Nothing more, Chichiri repeated over and over again in his head. Nothing more...  
  
* * *  
  
Chichiri let out a sigh of relief as they finally came to the threshold of the palace at one of the mountain's many ridges. Lisuku gripped his arm tighter as he opened the door with a quick movement of his hand and they proceded to go inside.  
  
Lisuku loosened her grip and then let go of Chichiri's arm as she took in the beauty around her. She'd been too oblivious before to realize the full beauty of the mountain, but now she noticed how truly amazing her surroundings were. Her fear was forgotten for a moment as she fully took in the white mist and the purple bubbles that never seemed to pop, but hung in the mist as bulbs do on a Christmas tree.  
  
"Whoa...," she accidently let slip her lips as she gazed at the light that shone in from an unseen ceiling and the mist that seemed to hide the walls. They could've been in a small room, or a vast one for all she knew. White marble pillars appeared every once in a while as the mist shifted, but it still gave no clue to the size of her surroundings.  
  
An ever darkening silhouette slowly aproaching them from the farthest patch of mist caught Lisuku's attention and brought her gaze downward to the area right in fron of her. Soon an olf woman who appeared to be floating in thin air appeared out of the white fog that had shielded her from view moments before.  
  
Lisuku gasped at just how ugly she was. Compared to her surroundings, she was like a flea on the back of a champion silver-gray stallion, repulsive and unwanted. Lisuku took a step back and gaped at her.  
  
"Chichiri, who is this gaping idiot that you brought me?" Taiitsu-kun asked Chichiri as she floated by the bewildered Lisuku.  
  
Lisuku turned to look at Chichiri and pointed at Taiitsu-kun with a shaking finger. "Wha-what it THAT?!"  
  
"Shh!" Chichiri yelled to her, brigning a finger up to his lips. "That's Taiitsu-kun! Creator of this mountain and all you see!...Show some respect no sa!" he added in whisper.  
  
Lisuku flushed red and bowed deeply before the hovering old lady. "Gomen nasai! Gomen nasai! I-I had no idea! F-forgive my ignorance and stupidity!"  
  
"Well, at least she caught on a lot faster than Miaka...It's okay young one," she said as she patted Lisuku's head as she floated past her. "You didn't know any better."  
  
Lisuku looked up, although still bent over. "Huh?"  
  
"It's all right, child! Now stand up!" Lisuku stood as straight as if she were at attention and Taiitsu-kun was the general. The Creator began to chuckle. "It's all right!" She patted Lisuku's shoulder this time.  
  
"A-are you sure?" Lisuku asked, startled, as she let the muscles in her back relax.  
  
"Yes! I'm not commanding an army here! Just show some respect, okay?"  
  
"Right!"  
  
"Now, Chichiri," she said as she floated back over to him. "You still haven't answered my question. Why did you bring this young one here?"  
  
"She doesn't remember who she is, no da."  
  
Taiitsu-kun looked at him with keen interest. "Whatever do you mean?" She said as she raised her eyebrows.  
  
"I mean what I say, no da. She has no memory of who she was or what she's done before she arrived at Dachi-san Mountain, no da." Chichiri could tell from the look on Taiitsu-kun's face that she was hiding something.  
  
"Very well. Then we will see what we can do, buf for now...Nyan Nyan (Lai Lai)!" A little girl appeared out of no where and can running over to Taiitsu-kun, followed by three more that looked completely identical to the first.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Please take care of Lisuku. Make sure to take her to her room for her stay here and that she has everything she needs for the next couple of weeks," Taiitsu-kun told the little ones.  
  
Lisuku glared at her in shock. "What, the next couple of-" But she was cut short by the Nyan Nyans that where rushing her out of the room and into a hallway to the side that had been hiden before by the white mist.  
  
"Quickly! Quickly"  
  
"This way!"  
  
"Come on!"  
  
Once the footsteps were barely audible and the young, coaxing voice diminished to near nothing, Taittsu-kun floated towards Chichiri until she was a mere foot or two away.  
  
"You've been hiding something, no da," Chichiri said with a mocking smile.  
  
"Oh, hush you silly fool, apparently so are you. You normally don't go without your mask now, do you?" Chichiri flushed a little bit and was at a loss for words. Taiitsu-kun chuckled, but then her face turned deadly serious. "Now then, I'm sorry to tell you this but it was I who took her memory away...but for good reason," she added quickly as she watched Chichiri's jaw drop.  
  
"B-but why, no da?" He was shocked, and nothign else would come out. A million questions and thoughts swam around in hie head, but all he could utter was the simplest one. "Why?"  
  
Taiitsu-kun sighed. "I can't tell you," she said as she looked down at the ground.  
  
"What?! What do you mean no-" Taittsu-kun looked up at him suddenly and started speaking again, cutting him short.  
  
"You will soon see in time, don't worry about it!" She said as she reached for his hair and playfully ruffled his mowhawk-like bangs. She then turned and begun to diappear back into the mist as she floated away from him.  
  
"But...!"  
  
"No buts! You'll figure it out in time." With that, all traces of Taiitsu- kun disappeared all together, leaving Chichiri puzzled to deal with a confusing mass of thoughts swimming around in his head.  
  
What does she mean "You'll figure it out in time"? She's never acted like this before. I know she's hiding something now, but what I really want to know is why she's hiding it. Chichiri sighed to himself. Oh well, I might as well go and check up on Lisuku. I wonder what Nyan Nyan is having her do.  
  
* * *  
  
Lisuku tried desperately to keep Taiitsu-kun's little minions from taking off her clothes, but to no avail.  
  
"I told you! I don't need a bath!" she yelled in exasperation as t he young girl tried slipping her shirt off her shoulders yet again. She grasped her half-way buttoned down shirt and pulled her pants up from her knees. Then she proceded to push her way through the four little girls. Ske kept backing away towards where she thought was the door until she met warm, soft flesh. She blushed as she turned around and looked up, meeting Chichiri's hazel gaze.  
  
"Ano...H-hi Chi-Chichiri...," she said, trying more desperately than before to hold her shirt from closed and lift her pants the rest of the way to her waist. "She was...um...Well you see I...I tried telling her that I didn't need a bath or frsh clothes, but...She just wouldn't listen..."  
  
Chichiri looked away from the nervous Lisuku and to the four little Nyan Nyans looking up at him innocently.  
  
"We were only trying to help."  
  
"Yes! We were going to freshen her up!"  
  
"And give her new clothes!"  
  
"And mend her old ones!"  
  
"Well, that's very nice of you, no da. But why don't you leave her alone for now, no da. She's had a very hard day, no da."  
  
"All right."  
  
"I guess"  
  
"Are you sure?" Chichiri nodded his head.  
  
"Well, then call us if you need anything!"  
  
"Bye!" After saying that one word in unison, they all disappeared in little puffs of smoke.  
  
"Th-thank you Chichiri," she said, the slightest touches of pink still gracing her cheeks.  
  
"No problem...Now...," he said, as he stepped out from behind her and walked over to a dresser in one corner of the room. He opened it and started sifting through the slothes. With his back turned, Lisuku took this opportunity to button up the fron of her blouse. When Chichiri turned back around with a fresh set of clothes and a bag filled with bathing necessities, Lisuku looked presentable again.  
  
"I can't thank you enough," she said as she took the supplies from his out stretched hands.  
  
"No problem, no da," Chichiri said with a smile.  
  
"No, that's not what I mean. I meant for waht you've done for me up till now." Lisuku looked down and fiddled with the edge of her shirt.  
  
"Eh?" Chichiri had no idea what she meant.  
  
"I want to thank you f-for taking me here...I know I can't remember most of my past, but I have this faint feeling that no one else has ever shown me such kindness...When-When I try to see what was there before...I get theis feeling that all it was was heartache, fear, hurt, and lonliness." She looked up at him for a moment, briefly gazing into his eye, before she bowed to him. "Doomo arigato gozaimasu."  
  
Chichiri had no idea waht to say. Man, this girl is worse than Miaka with her sudden mood shifts. She can go from bubbly, to scared, to embaressed, to humble, all in less than an hour? Ano...what do I say?... "You welcome, no da. I-I told you it was no problem, no da. I try to help as many people as I can, no da."  
  
When she began to stand up, Chichiri saw something glisten on the side of her face, but it was quickly wiped away before she was straight up and facing him once more. "Thanks," she sniffled. "Now, could you possibly show we where the bath is, since I reek so bad that everyone wants me to bathe?"  
  
Chichiri let a short laugh escape his throat. "I don't think they think you stink, but of course I'll show you where the bath is, anyway no da." Chichiri said with a smile. Lisuku smiled back as he took her out of the room and around the corner to the one of the fairly large and immaculate bathing rooms.  
  
* * *  
  
A/N: Well, that's it, what'd ya think? Good, bad, sappy, stupid? Could you please review and tell me? *sniffle* Onegai shimasu? Kudasai? Please!? If you peoples like it, then I'll keep writing and posting, if not, then I'll just take it down. I really need to know!! Thanks! Oh, and I already started writing Chapter 3!! Ja! 


	3. Chapter 3: Lavender and Vanilla

A Never Ceasing Smile to Hide the Pain Within  
  
Disclaimer: FY...Fushigi Yuugi...It's a great show...Now, if you've watched at least some of the credits, or read what the author's name was on the manga, then you should know that I Don't Own This Show!!!..I wish I did though...It sould be nice...Then they could show my fanfics as the actual anime on TV...Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?  
  
A/N: As previously stated, this is a non-lemon/non-yaoi Chichiri fanfic. It follows the same guidlines I used as the Tasuki fanfic "Blazing Divine Flame" (which is the translation to "Rekka Shin'en" if you didn't already know). I'm sorry if some parts are similar, buts don't worry! This story is going to be much different!! Depending on how my brain decides to figure this out, it could be either longer or shorter than the pervious one. Ano...I like it so far and I hope you do too!!!  
  
Chapter 3: Lavender and Vanilla  
  
"Sugoi!...This place is huge! Whoa," Lisuku tilted her head back to look at the pillar that reaches up to the ceiling that were entangled with vines, some of which hung down and brushed your face as you walked in. There were pink flowers surrounding the edges, and huge windows that looked out into the garen on the right side. From the amount of light that entered, Lisuku could tell that someone on the outside couldn't look in, but the bather got the wonderous view of the garden in full bloom and even caught some of the warm rays of the sun that seemed to leak in through the ceiling. The door- like windows could be opened if the bather wanted a slight breeze after bathing and there was even a daybed by the doors too.  
  
Chichiri looked at her amazement and smiled. "Yeah. This is my favorite place to bath too, no da. There's other places here, but none of them seem half as beautiful to me as this one does, no da." Chichiri looked tilted his head bakc and let the warm sunbeams kiss his face. This was the other place he came to excape his sorrows and to pass away the lonly hours. Maybe Lisuku would find the same happiness that he did here too.  
  
Finally, Lisuku look in the beauty of the bathing pool itself. There were smaller pools off to the side for mere decoration that held koi and lily pads, but the main pool held crystal clear water that shone a deep blue because of the way it was painted beneath the water's surface and the way the light was hiting it.  
  
They both seemed to snap back into reality at the same time and looked at each other. "Well,...ano...I guess I'll leave you now, no da. Enjoy your bath, no da!" Chichiri waved good bye to her as we walked out of the bathing room, leaving it to work its wonders with Lisuku. He pulled the door behind him and let out a huge sigh as he leaned back on the door.  
  
There's something about her, he thought to himself. Something that pulls up all my memories of Koran...But I have no idea why...They look nothing alike, their personalities touch close in some areas, but in others they are completely different...So what is it then?...Am I falling in love again?...No, I never could. Not only would that show disrespect to my love of Koran, but it would only throw me back into more pain and heartache when she leaves once she gets her memory back...So what should I do?...I honestly don't know.  
  
Chichiri heard footsteps from inside the room he's left nearing the door, so he brought up two fingers to his face, consentrated, and disappeared in a small "pop" and a puff of smoke. When Lisuku opened the door, she was greated by an empty hallway. She could've sworn she had felt his presence there a minute ago, but she pushed it aside, saying that her mind was playing tricks on her. Letting out a sigh, she popped back into the room and closed the door once again.  
  
She placed her towel by the edge of the pool and placed the bag next to it. She stripped down and carefully folded her clothes, setting them a good distance away from the water. She slipped into the pool and found it a little hotter than luke-warm, pleasent and soothing. She figured a pool as big as this would cool quickly and the water would be like ice when she entered, but it was more delightful then she could've ever imagined. It caressed her skin and warmed her through and through.  
  
It was deep enough that it reached her chest at one end, but shallow enough to sit in at the other. She swam about in the deeper part, merely for the purpose of relaxation before she walked over to the shallow end to get rid of the thin layer of grim that covered her face and arms, which she hadn't noticed when she was still fully clothed.  
  
As soon as she opened the small bad, her nostrils were greeted by the familiar relaxing scents of lavender and vanilla. There was a body mist and some different soaps mixed together in the bag. Her eye was caught by that of a light purple one, so she reached in, and then brought it out and up to her nose. It felt creamy and smooth in her hands and smelt of a mixture of the two scents. She decided that she would wash with this one and picked out a similar once for which she would use to wash her hair.  
  
As she lathered up, washing her arms and legs, rinsing off the grim and dirt that accumulated on her face and elsewhere, she tried to think about her past. What had drawn her here? And even though she was scared that she couldn't remember, she felt at home here. Almost like this was where she was supposed to be, and every time she let her thoughts wander a bit, they fell upon Chichiri, causing a slight warmth to rush to her cheeks. She knew she was blushing, but couldn't understand why she felt this way about someone she had met, what, two or three hours ago, if that? Yet...it seemed like so much longer...That those memories had always been in the back of her head, but were long forgotten, and somthing had just simply sparked them, bringing them bakc to the fron of her mind.  
  
When she was done she slipped down into the water and sighed. She let the soothing substance lap against her neck and let her head rest on the edge of the pool. She looked up to the ceiling, which seemed not even to exist, as was the same in the other rooms, and let the sun light stream down on to her face as she watched the ivy dance in a breeze that she neither felt, nor thought possible in a closed room, then again, this place was nowhere near normal.  
  
She sat up and stood in the water, beginning to ring out her hair with her hands. She then threw it behind her shoulders, grabbed the towel, and wrapped it around her. She opened the bag again, but took out the body mist. She sprayed it into the air and took a whif. It was lightly scented of vanilla. She sprayed some more into the air and twirled into it, letting it fall onto her skin and into her hair. It was a nice touch after the amazing bath she had just partaken in.  
  
She took the towel off her body then, and slipped into a towel-like robe that had been onto of the pile of clothes Chichiri had handed her. After she tied it shut, she walked over to the window and flung them open, letting the floral secnted breeze into the laveshly decorated room. It smelt of roses and poesias and hundreds of other flowers that she had never smelt before. She laid on the daybed beside one of the open windows, letting the sun shine down on her and the breeze play with quickly drying hair. She felt her eyelids droop as the light breeze caressed her skin and the sunlight evaporated the rest of the escess moisture from her skin. Before she knew what was going on, she had drifted into a light, peaceful sleep, a smile still on her face.  
  
* * *  
  
Chichiri sighed in relief as he landed on the small roof that came out the slightest bit from above the windows of the bathing room. He leaned against the wall, titling his head back, then closing his eyes. He breathed deeply of the rich, floral scented air and sat up straight, opening his eyes, to take in, once again, the full beauty of the garden. There was every color and type of flower that you could possible think of there, and some that where only found on Dachi-san Mountain itself. It was the best place to relax and an even greater place to think. So, even before he realized it, that's what he started to do.  
  
His mind was soon flooded with the thoughts that he had temporarally put aside when escorting Lisuku to the bath. Who is she? Where did she come from? Why couldn't she remeber who she was? And why...why did he feel this way about her.  
  
"Okay," he said to himself, forcing his tensed body to relax as he took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. "First off, I know who she is. Her name's Lisuku...But that's all I know...That's all she knows...Apparently she had a hurt filled past, but then even she doesn't know what happened...Taiitsu-kun said I would know in time why she couldn't remember her past...And as for my feelings about her...I just don't know..."  
  
Chichiri let his body go limp and fall against the cool, white stone wall. Even in the sun it kept narturally cool. He let it sooth him and relax him. He looked up at the sky. There were some clouds forming now. Cumulonimbus if he was correct. There would be thunderstorms tonight. Some of it might just be heat lightning, but there was definately going to be a storm, so Chichiri soaked in as much pleasure as he could from the beautiful day that surrounded him, before he hopped off the roof onto the silky grass below.  
  
He checked on Lisuku's chi level and from the level it was at, he could tell she was in a light sleep, but when he looked around and saw her laying on the daybed behind the open windows he realized just how useless his efforts where. A smile crosse his lips as he saw her chest slowly rise and fall in the rythmic breathing of a light summer snooze, and how she fell asleep with a smile on her face enhanced the faint smile to a grin.  
  
She looked so happy, so peaceful. The way the sun shone on her hair and how the wind played with it, made it seem like a golden blaze, dancing playfully in the wind. He bent down and lifted her int his arms. As much as he would've liked to leave her there, she did need to get dressed.  
  
He shoved the rest of her things in the bag and hung it from his wrist. Then wind blew her scent into his nostrils. The pleasent smell of lavender and vanilla soothed him to the point where he thought he would fall asleep himself, or simply get lost in the scent as he gazed down at her, taking in her ethereal beauty.  
  
No sooner had he picked her up and gathered her things, he concentrated and moments later they were in her room. Chichiri sent out a mental call to Nyan Nyan and moments later she was at Lisuku's side. Chichiri looked away and headed towards the door as the little ones undid her robe and began to dress her as if she where a doll.  
  
One of the Nyan Nyans suddenly turned around and looked at him. "You like her, don't you?"  
  
Chichiri turned to face her and smiled. The rest of the other Nyan Nyans smiled as well, but there gazes were hidden from him, as they had their backs turned in his direction.  
  
"You could say that, no da," Chichiri said as he opened the door and closed it behind him. "You could say that," he said to no one in particular as he walked down the barren hallway back to the garden.  
  
He collapsed onto the soft grass when he got there, tears forming in his eye and sliding down his cheek. The clouds had multiplied ten fold in that small amount of time, and already the sky was covered in dark, murky gray clouds. Small raindrops drifted down from the heavens. The freshwater mixing with his own salty tears.  
  
"Gods, Koran...You have no idea how much I miss you...And now there's this girl...And I just can't help but think of you...I was so wrong, and now you're gone from me forever...I'm so sorry."  
  
* * *  
  
Lisuku woke with a start as a bolt of lightning ripped through the air outside her window, creating a roar so great that she was sure it would cause her deafness. When her senses dully came back to her from the sudden shock, she realized she was sitting straight up in her bed, fully clothed. How she had managed that she had no idea, but that's not where her thoughts were right now...They were far away...In the back of her mind she saw a horrible scene take place. She didn't know what was going on, but she felt so much pain, and was so alone...And she felt like she had betrayed someone...Then something happened....She couldn't breath...The world faded to black...She had died...  
  
"No..." she said, her eyes still glazed over. "No!" she yelled as her eyes snapped back to the present. "I couldn't have...There's no way...I'm still alive! I'm right here! I have flesh and blood! When I pinch myself," she took a chunk of her skin and twisted it. "Itai...It hurts!...But then why...What happened?...What was that?...Was it me?...Was it..someone else? Grrah! What's going on what's wrong with me!" She screamed as she jumped to her feet and interwine her ingers in her hair. "First, I can't remember my past or who I am, now I'm seeing these pictures...Flashbacks, or whatever, and they don't make any sense! And this feeling...This feeling of loss...Of heatache...Of immense pain and suffering...Is stronger than ever!" She said as she fell to the floor, landing on her knees.  
  
"But I have no idea what it is...Or why it's here....I just feel...I just feel...So...Alone," she whispered to herself, as she hugged her shoulders and shiver crept down her spine. Hot tears poured from her eyes like overflooded streams and nothign she did could make them stop.  
  
"I'm alone," she said to herself as she folded herself in half, her tears dampening her pants legs.  
  
* * *  
  
"I'm so utterly alone...Even Tasuki has someone now...He has Makani...Those two," a choked laugh escaped his throat. "They had no idea that they even loved each other...And the chances of them meeting...Purely accidental...Nothing more than fate...So where does that leave me, hmm?...I'm one of the last two Suzaku Shichi Seishi. Tasuki hasn't bothered with me in three years...He and Makani are happy now...From my observations and the new young chi I detected with them, they're even going to have a child...Which leaves me...A monk...Destined to live the rest of my life alone...Even if Koran was reincarnated, I would most likely never see her again...I wouldn't know it was her, and she would be so much younger than I...She'll have probably died twice by the time I finally die...If I die, and Taiitsu-kun doesn't have other plans for me." Chichiri shuddered. The cold blow of the winds and quickening downfall of the rain was starting to seep into his bones, puching out the warmth the sun had put there a mere hour before. "Alone..."  
  
* * *  
  
Lisuku sat up straight again. "No, " she sniffled as she used the back of her shirt sleeve to wipe away her tears and what had come to be s runny nose. "I'm not alone, " she said, as she used the back of her hands to catch the moisture from her puffy eyes. "What about the man who brought me here...Chichiri...Hmm...He seemed to care what would happen to me...He even offered to help me!...Maybe he can help me to find out my past! To help me learn what I was before! Yes! I know he can!...But...Something's not right."  
  
She looked around the room. There were no lights on, of course, it was still day, she knew it was, but it was so dark out. The unexpected thunderstorm had blocked out the sun's rays almost entirely. It looked as dark as night, but it couldn't be past three o'clock in the afternoon. "Something's wrong," she whispered to herself as she shakily climbed to her feet. She stood and looked at the door. "Something's definately wrong."  
  
She threw open the door and nearly ripped off the door knob in the process. "Chichiri!" she called down the vacant corridors. "Chichiri!..Gods, where could he have gone?..." She stopped in her tracks for a moment, and then swung around, "Oh, Suzaku, the garden!" She ran through the bath and out the open windows. The white curtains blocked her view as the wind from the storm billowed them up until they filled the openings. She ran through them, pushing them aside, almost tripping and falling in the process as one caught her ankle. She felt it turn and something on the inside crunch and rip, but she didn't care. All she cared about was what she saw in fron of her.  
  
Chichiri, nearly as blue as his hair, lay in the middle of the garden, the tall grass partially hiding his body from view, but she could tell that he wasn't breathing. Forgetting her useless ankle, she tried running towards him, bearly breaking the other in the process. She dragged herself the rest of the way over to him.  
  
"Gods, no...You're my last hope, Chichiri...Without you I have no past, literally...And I won't have a future either, for if you die, my hopes die with you. She placed her ear against his chest. The heartbeat was faint and growing fainter by the second. She pushed his soaked mohawk-bangs out of his face and pinched his nose as her lips touched in and she breathed into him what she hoped would be the breath of life. His chest fell as quickly as it rose. She tried again, and again, but he still wouldn't breath on his own. His skin was even more pale than before, and she was starting to be able to see the small blue blood vessels in his hands and arms, not to mention his face.  
  
"Fine, " she said, as she looked down at him. "For those who have no past, in turn they have no future, so I give you my energy, the energy of a lost soul, so that the one who knows who he is may live and not be forgotten, and the one that has forgotten herself may be put to rest in the garden of lost souls." With that she leaned over him once again, only this time when her lips touched him, a pure, white light flowed from inside her, to inside him. "Good bye, and may you have the future in your grasp, since I lost mine on the past."  
  
She breathed her last breath and it rushed out of her almost as soon as it entered as her now limp body fell over his. Chichiri's eyes fluttered, and then opened. He coughed up the water that had built up in his lungs. When his eyes focused and the sensation in his limbs returned, he tried to sit up, only to find that he was much heavier than usual. When he looked at his chest to see what the cause might be, he saw Lisuku. Limp, lifeless, and growing colder by the second. Her face and skin were drained of all color and she was as soaked as he was by the relentless downpouring of rain. But there was something different about her. He searched her and found that her chi was....Not completely gone, but deminishing quiet rapidly. Her heart was about ready to stop as Taiitsu-kun appeared in front of him, a flash of lightning illuminating her for a split second, before she was gone, and Lisuku along with her.  
  
* * *  
  
A/N: So maybe this is going closer to "Divine Blazing Flame" than I thought...Gomen nasai, I'm trying...More chapters coming up if the reviews keep coming! If I don't have 15 reviews (hint, hint) by Chapter 4, then I'm just going to stop. I need to know how it's doing! Well, until next chapter, Ja ne! 


	4. Chapter 4: Always and Forever

A Never Ceasing Smile to Hide the Pain Within  
  
Disclaimer: I love Fushigi Yugi...It's the best anime on the face of the Earth. Sadly *sniffle* I don't own it. But neither do you!! So that makes me feel a whole lot better!! I do own Lisuku though, he he he. : )  
  
A/N: A Chichiri fanfic!! And what's even better, it's non-yaoi/non- lemon...And it's got angst, and romance, and lots more fun stuff!! YAY!! Well, what are you waiting for! Keep reading! Enjoy! ; )  
  
Chapter 4: Always and Forever  
  
Chichiri sat, staring where Taiitsu-kun and Lisuku had once been, the rain pouring over him and the lightning shaking the earth beneath him. A shiver that ran through him threw him back into reality, and he leaped to his feet and ran to the door. He pushed it aside as he ran down the halls. He searched for Lisuku's chi so he could immediately transport himself to her side, but with no luck. It was too small to be noticed. He swore under his breath as he ran to her room. He flung open the door, no one was there. It was hopeless. He would never find her. This place was too large and they could be in any one of a thousand rooms. He broke down onto her bed with tears that had no right to be in his eyes, and cried himself into weariness that only brought him troubled sleep.  
  
* * *  
  
"Where am I?" Chichiri thought to himself as he seemed to drift about in space. There was no time where he was. There was...well, frankly, nothing. Blackness surrounded him and engulfed him in the nothingness, but then there was light. A glowing figure approached him, and we would've held his breath if he was actually breathing. She drew closer and closer to him until she was just a breath away and looked lovingly into his eyes. She held his chin in her hand and drew him closer to her. She brushed her lips against his, and yet it felt as if there was nothing behind them, like a faintr summer breeze, nothing more. Until that very moment he had no idea who it was, but when she had touched him, he knew.  
  
His mouth formed the word, but he could no speak it. Koran, he thought, tears welling up in his eyes. She nodded her head in response. B-but how? Why? Why are you coming to me now? It is...It is really you? She nodded again and looked at him with eyes filled with love, but also with loss. She came closer to him again, and leant towards his ear.  
  
In a breath more than a whisper he heard. "Do not be afraid to love again, Chichiri. I made a mistake with you once and I will not make it again. Lisuku loves you with the samew love I do. Go to her and be happy. I have nothing against it."  
  
B-but- She brought her finger up to his lips, even though he was not speaking, he knew to be quiet. She kissed him one last time, on the forehead, and then she faded away into the blackness, still smiling.  
  
* * *  
  
Chichiri threw open his eyelids and sat straight up in the bed, looking in every direction for a glimpse of his love, but she was gone. She had came to him in a dream, but now...Gone...He had lost her again...And yet...  
  
He got up and walked over to the door. His eye was still puffy from the shed tears, but it didn't matter. He had to find Lisuku and tell her how he felt, before it was too late. And he nearly ran over Taiitsu-kun in the process.  
  
"Ah, Chichiri, I was looking for you. I figured I'd find you here."  
  
"Where is Lisuku, no da? Is she all right, no da?" Chichiri tried frantically to get around the hovering hag, but with no luck.  
  
Taiitsu-kun laughed to herself and patted his shoulder. "Relax young one, she is fine, but very weak, and she wishes to see you. Come along." Taiitsu- kun turned around in the doorframe and began to walk down one of the long corridors facing east. "Do you have any idea what she did for you, Chichiri?"  
  
Hearing his name, he pulled out of his thoughts and looked at her back. "What? No. Why, no da?"  
  
"Chichiri, she gave up her very essence so you wouldn't die. You may not have known this, but you had given up on life, and death was taking you over. She found you at your last heart beats, trying to force air into your lungs, but your body kept pushing it back out, and you were fading fast. Even I don't know how she did it, it was like she gave you a piece of her very soul, and almost all of her energy with it. Love does things like that."  
  
Chichiri nearly stopped in his tracks as his jaw dropped open. "S-she, s- she?"  
  
Taiitsu-kun stopped in front of a door that was carved with ivy and flowers, and pushed it open. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"  
  
Lisuku looked up and tried to push her self up into a sitting position, but she was just too weak. "Oh. Hi, Chichiri, listen..ah!...," and she fell back into her pillow. Chichiri rushed over to her side, and Taiitsu-kun smiled as she closed the door behind him and drifted down the corridor, away from the two.  
  
"Listen, Chichiri, I have something to tell you. I know why I lost my memory."  
  
"Really? Why?"  
  
"Because of who I was before," Lisuku made a weak attempt to grasp Chichiri's hand, and he, seing what she was trying to do, grasped hers instead. She laughed weakly and played with his mohawk-bangs for a second. "I forgot this life, so I could remember another." With the little strenth she had left, she sat up and leaned towards Chichiri. She took his face in her hands, and brought it towards her, lightly kissing his lips, just brushing them with her own like...  
  
"Do you remember me Chichiri? It's me Koran."  
  
Chichiri's eye welled up with tears as he threw his arms around her and pulled her close to him, careful not to hurt her in this weakened state. Lisuku put her arms around him as well, but not in as tight of an embrace. She could feel his tears falling onto her shoulder, and some had sliped from her eyes as well.  
  
"I think we've both had enough crying for today," Lisuku said as she heard Chichiri sniffle, and then felt him pull away.  
  
"Koran...I...I'm so sorry...What I did was...Was...It's just that..." She lifted her finger to silence him, like Koran had done in his dream. Lisuku really was her. She was young enough to be her reincarnated as well.  
  
"You didn't know...And it wasn't your fault...I was young...," she said as she looked down, not able to meet his hazel eye. "I felt like I wasn't good enough for you...You were so kind, so loving...I didn't think I was worthy of your love...I didn't mean to hurt you!" She said as she looked into his eye, tears flowing non-stop from hers. "I had no idead that that was what would some of it...You're not the one to be sorry...I am...I'm so sorry Chichiri....Ri Houjun...My love...I put you through so much suffering and pain...I..."  
  
She didn't finish because Chichiri took her hand in his own once more, and leaned forward and kissed her once again. When they parted she fell against his chest and he hugged her tight against him. She could hear his heart beating and feel the rythmic rise and fall of his chest. He was alive. And her sacrifice, her facing her own death again, had brought him back to life. She snuggled into him as close as she could. He was still damp from the rain, but most of it had evaporated, leabing him near dry. A window to his left showed him that the storm had stopped, and although everything was covered in moisture, the rains were gone, and no clouds were left in the sky to block the warmign rays of the sun that kissed the rain drops away.  
  
"Will you ever leave me again?" He said into her hair, once again taking in the calming aroma of lavender and vanilla.  
  
"Of course, not silly. I never make the same mistake twice. I love you," she whispered the last past.  
  
"I love you, too," he whsipered into her hair.  
  
They held on even tighter to each other now, not evr wanting to leave the warm embrace of the other. They had already lost themselves once, and never wanted to loose each other again.  
  
"Ai shiteru, Lisuku, Koran."  
  
"Ai shiteru Chichiri, Ri Houjun, always."  
  
"Always and forever," they both said. "Always and forever."  
  
* * *  
  
A/N: Told you it was going in a different direction!! Now, if only the series went this way...Too bad...*sigh* I hope all of you like it, because that was the last chapter!! I don't know what happened...I guess that's how it works when you write on impulse...Please R&R, I really want to know how it came out!! Thanks, and until my next fanfic, Ja ne! 


End file.
